Shock Trooper
by SgtWinters
Summary: Elatran is a newly trained shock trooper of the Highrodan 52nd Shock Regiment, deployed with his company to reinforce his regiment in the trench war raging on Panteric, a Chaos-held fortress world, and the key to opening the campaign for the cluster of worlds known as the Adovan Systems. He quickly finds that Chaos isn't perhaps the worst enemy on this campaign though.
1. Chapter 1

The acrid smell of fear permeated throughout the drop craft. Harsh red light from the battle-lighting above threw sharp shadows across the faces of the soldiers sat, combat ready but nervous, wearing deep blue fatigues and scarlet body armour, rank and regimental markings painted in white. Personal, non-combat equipment was stored in kit bags sat at each of soldiers' feet, brand-new and filled with precious little than a few knickknacks from home and mostly identical Guard-issue uniforms and equipment. Turbulence rocked the drop craft, and the air in the craft started to warm slightly as it fell through the atmosphere. A large crash shook the craft violently, and loud bangs added to the cacophony of noise filling the small ship as anti-air fire lit up the sky.

A voice came over the vox, barely audible over the noise. 'Good news E Company, I've just been informed that we won't, I repeat, we won't be dropping into combat. The Haldon 7th and the 23rd Distre Armoured managed to push through, and our regiment has been pulled back as a reserve force,' said the Company Commander, Lieutenant Narveth.  
'We will be able to merge with them in relative calm and safety, drop personal kit off in billets and move to the front line as a unit. I'm sure that the other companies of the Highrodan 52nd will be happy to see us.'

Elatran could see the Lieutenant closer to the doors of the lander, reading a data-slate and talking over the vox to the new Commissar, Cadet-Commissar Asphadon, who was to be under the tutelage of the regiment's current commissar. Narveth was a shorter man, with dark, closely cropped hair, dressed in the same combat kit as the rest of the company. Asphadon was taller, but slimmer and more lean. His silver hair, the norm on his world, was almost shaved down to the scalp, and he was dressed in the combat kit of the Commissariat, with an adapted version of the scarlet body armour worn by the regular troops and officers. Both had looks of relief.

Suddenly, the noise from the flak fire fell away, and the rocking reduced significantly. They had survived the anti-air gauntlet, an achievement in of itself, as 2 out of every 5 companies that dropped from orbit never reached the ground alive. There was a jolt, and Elatran, along with every other soldier in the drop craft, was pressed into their seat as the thrusters fired, slowing their fall. The lander hit the ground with a deep thud, and the doors began to slowly over, spilling now blindingly bright white light into the craft. The noise from the engines meant that talking was useless, even over the microbeads, so the Lieutenant got to his feet and motioned for the company to disembark. The troops stood, grabbing their kit bags and started to file out of the lander, forming up on the square outside in platoons. Kit bags lay strewn on the dusty earth, with soldiers chatting and lighting up lho sticks.

Elatran joined his platoon, stood with the other members of his squad. Corporal Delane nodded at him, acknowledging that he had arrived. A few seconds later and the final two members of 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon arrived, and Delane looked satisfied that he had everyone present. His relief quickly turned to apprehension, unsure of what to do now. They had been given no orders for this, expecting to land straight into combat, not to stand in the drill square of a landing zone. Sergeant Pallicky met Delane's anxious gaze, shrugged, and continued looking around his platoon, meeting the eyes of his squad leaders, confirming non-verbally that he had everyone present.

The lander's doors began to swing shut, the last of the troops having disembarked. Its engines roared, and it rose back up to the troop transport hulk anchored in high orbit, to deliver more reinforcements and supplies to the forces on the planet. Some troopers looked at it forlornly, wishing they hadn't joined and weren't on this godforsaken rock. More simply ignored it, preferring to smoke and talk, with a group from 3rd Platoon sitting on their packs and opening a pack of cards. This continued for a few minutes, with even the Lieutenant and the Cadet-Commissar milling around, and some troopers taking the time to relax.

A hush fell over the crowd, starting from one of the trenches leading from the square, and then most of the troops started moving quickly, slinging kit bags over their shoulders and forming up in platoons properly, rather than the casual mingling which had been happening before. Elatrane's platoon formed up too, with 3nd squad taking the third rank, Delane at the far left of the formation. This rapid movement into drill formations meant that Elatrane could see who had arrived. However, this hadn't dawned on the troopers playing cards, too engrossed in their game to pay attention to the mass movement.

A whip cracked, and one of the troopers fell over, the shock, pain and force of the blow knocking him over. Two of the other troopers rose to confront the owner of the whip. Only one realised who was holding it and stopped. Private Hytrane, of 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, E Company, 52nd Highrodan Regiment, swung a punch, assuming his friend would fight the other person currently towering over the game. The blow landed on Colonel Radmerrk, commander of the 52nd Highrodan Regiment. Commissar Volatre, whip in his left hand, drew his bolt pistol and executed Hytrane on the spot, the mass reactive round obliterating Hytrane's head and spattering the colonel with gore.

Radmerrk was a tall man, with the same dark hair as the rest of the Highrodan. His navy blue fatigues were almost brown with dust, and his body armour was scratched, scarred and blackened, betraying a recent firefight. Volatre was tall too, with longer blond hair, his Commissariat uniform just as dusty, with scorched holes in the stormcoat showing where las fire passed through.

'It appears, Commissar,' Radmerrk said, 'That our reinforcements have arrived. Useless, as usual.'

The Commissar grunted in agreement, concentrating more on the three privates from 3rd Platoon before him, one still writhing in pain on the ground, the other two stood at attention, the fear of punishment from the Commissar clear on their faces. Volatre studied them carefully.

'Company, attention!' barked Narveth. He turned to Radmerrk.

'E Company, all…' He glanced at the remains of Hytrane still lying on the floor,'…mostly present and correct, for your inspection, sir!'

Radmerrk looked at Narveth with contempt. 'Thank you, Lieutenant. Given that we got the order from the loadmaster of your dock on the _Perniciosa Inordinatio _that no-one had died on the ship, I had assumed that everyone was here. Or was sitting in a lander a potentially dangerous and life-threatening task for you and your pathetic excuse for a company?'

Narveth had an odd expression on his face, a mix of fear, embarrassment and anger, but did not rise to the insult, staying silently stood at attention.

'Cadet-Commissar Asphadon! Where are you?' shouted Volatre.

'Here, Commissar,' said Asphadon, walking briskly towards the Commissar. His normal deep, encouraging voice was shaking slightly.

'You've not served before, have you?' asked Volatre.

'No sir.'

'Very well. How long have you been with this company?'

'Time of transit plus 2 months, so roughly 9 months now, sir.'

'Hmm. How many punishments have you handed out? And the nature of the punishment?'

'27 punishments. Mostly jail time for troops to cool off, 4 or 5 cases of extra duties, one case of RIP.'

'Interesting,' said Volatre, 'I want you to punish these three men. I will provide punishment of my own if I do not find your decisions to be suitable.'

Every eye in the square was now locked on the Cadet-Commissar. The question on everyone's mind was 'what will he do?'

The answer came quickly.

'Maklinn, Uljerrt. A month in jail each, for gambling in a combat zone. You had no idea if the enemy were about to attack, and were clearly unprepared.'

Asphadon turned to the trooper that had stopped himself from attacking. 'Talinne, for attempting brawling and intent to assault a senior officer, 2 months in jail and 50 lashes.'

Volatre murmured, 'Hmm,' then raised his bolt pistol again and shot Talinne and Maklinn, blowing craters in their chests and killing them instantly. He then turned to Asphadon.

'Draw your sword,' he said.

After a few seconds staring at the remains of Talinne and Maklinn, Asphadon reluctantly drew his chainsword and activated it. The teeth chattered, breaking the silence. He looked back at Volatre.

Volatre nodded.

Asphadon struck.

Uljerrt's head dropped to the ground, quickly followed by the rest of his body.

Radmerrt turned back to Narveth, a look of bemusement about the situation on his face.

'Okay then, now that's dealt with, we'll lead you and your company to our billets. There, your company will be split, to fill the gaps in the squads we already have. Narveth, you will shadow Sergeant Polonn until you are competent at leading troops in battle. Follow us.'

Radmerrt spun on his heel and marched off, wiping the blood from his face like it was rainwater. Volatre swiftly followed.

Narveth spun back to E Company. 'Okay, you heard the colonel. Follow him to the billets, you'll be reassigned there. 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, lead on,' he shouted.

Troops either readjusted kit bags or picked them up, and began to march into the trench, fearful of what laid ahead with such a brutal commander and commissar. Elatran shouldered his pack and followed Corporal Delane down the trench, the dry, hard packed earth making transit oddly easy for a trench. The sky above was white, and alive with flashes of energy beams and flak fire. It had taken a year, but Elatran was finally here, on his first alien world. He'd landed to fight for the Imperium. He'd landed to fight the forces of Chaos present on the planet, taking it back in the name of the Emperor. He'd landed on Panteric, fortress world of Chaos.


	2. Chapter 2

Elatran and his squad marched through the maze of the trench system that had grown over a decade. They passed through trenches ten metres deep, some with flakboard roofs, some that tunnelled into the, with only the dirt above as protection from the elements. The closer they got to the front, the more the dust permeated the air. Several troops started reaching for their rebreathers, struggling with the laden air. Eventually they marched under a gas curtain, revealing a large dugout, 20 metres squared, with the path E Company following running through, and another path crossing it at a ninety degree angle. In the corners created by the paths sat command centres, with a small Departmento Munitorum administration office in one corner, the Commissariat office for this section of the trench line in another corner, with a small corridor sealed with a cage door leading off to what Elatran presumed were the cells. The local detachment of the Tac Logis took up the other two corners. A sign hung at the other end of the path Elatran was following which stated 'REBREATHERS TO BE WORN PAST THIS POINT – BY ORDER OF THE OFFICO MEDICAE'.

As E Company passed the Munitorum, officials passed out spare rebreather filters and maps of the local trench system. Elatran glanced at his maps, and saw that it had details of latrines, command centres and Munitorum areas, like mess facilities and ammo dumps. While this occurred, Colonel Radmerrt was deep in conversation with a junior tactician. Elatran overheard snippets of their discussion,

'…suggested troop placement, per your restrictions…'

'… seems good, might be all for nothing… useless…'

'…that bad? Bodies on the landing square?'

'Yeah… won't last… need new reinforcements by next month.'

Radmerrt and the junior tactician said their goodbyes once they saw that E Company was nearly finished receiving their new supplies. Radmerrt shouted that all E Company troopers need to fix their rebreathers, then donned his own and walked out of the dugout into the trench on the other side. The order was echoed by Lieutenant Narveth and by the sergeants, and E Company filed out of the command dugout.

Elatran saw why the rebreathers were necessary. The dust covered everything in sight, dropping visibility down from miles to metres. He trudged along with the rest of the Company for another hour, through the twisting trench system, until they finally reached the cluster of support and communications trenches that had been assigned as the resting billet and command centre for the 52nd Highrodan Regiment and the Haldon 7th Regiment. The billets were only half full, the other half stood to in the fire-trench, waiting for a counter-attack. Even in the billets, the troops there weren't resting. All were dressed in full combat gear, las-rifles at the ready, waiting for the order to support those in the fire-trench or go over the top and support the Haldon and Distre assault.

Radmerrt stopped in the middle of the room and turned, looking at a data-slate he had produced from his thigh pocket and removing his rebreather now that he was in the safety of gas curtain protected dugout. He started out reading names, giving the reinforcement troops their new assignments. 1st Platoon and 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, was split among the platoons of C Company. The entirety of 3rd Platoon was quickly assigned to five of the six platoons currently in the fire-trench, so they quickly dropped their kit into a pile in the corner, made themselves combat ready and followed a B Company sergeant out to the fire-trench, ready to reinforce. 2nd Platoon was assigned to D Company, and followed their new company commander through a small doorway into another billet room. The D Company commander turned to the them, his rebreather dangling around his neck.

'Alright, don't bother removing your rebreathers until we get stood down. I'm Major Apperton. Sergeant Arlon, grab 2nd Squad and split them between 1st and 2nd Squad of 2nd Platoon, ask Captain Youart where she wants them. Sergeant Polonn, 3rd Squad is yours, you're in 2nd Platoon too. There's meant to be a Lieutenant shadowing you, isn't there?'

Sergeant Polonn got up from a chair at the far end of the room and walked over, knife in one hand and sharpening tool in the other, his rebreather also slung around his throat.

'Aye sir. Is there a Lieutenant Narveth Here?'

At that moment, a shout came from the other room, and the sound of a blow landing.

'YOU STUPID, ARROGANT BASTARD! YOU WILL GO WHERE I TELL YOU AND FOLLOW THE ORDERS OF WHO I TELL YOU TO FOLLOW THE ORDERS OF! GET IN THAT FUCKING ROOM AND DO AS YOUR TOLD, OR VOLATRE WILL DO A LOT WORSE THAN HIT YOU!'

Narveth came stumbling into the room, struggling to breathe and clutching his stomach. He leaned against a set of bunk beds for a moment, then straightened up and said, 'Lieutenant Narveth. I'm meant to shadow a Sergeant Polonn?'

Polonn walked over, sheathed his knife and stuck out his hand.

'I'm Polonn, it's nice to meet you sir. The colonel is a good combat commander, but a little sensitive. What did you say?'

'I just said that given my rank and likely command position after getting some command experience, surely it would be better to shadow him, or a company commander, not at squad level. No offence,' Narveth said, his voice muffled by his rebreather.

'None taken, sir, it makes more sense to pretty much everyone. But in Radmerrt's mind, you're a liability, and if you shadow someone higher up the command chain, you might slip up or distract them and cause deaths. Squad level is the highest he can sacrifice, and I'm the most sacrificable,' said Polonn. He looked uncomfortable, then cleared the expression from his face, put on a half-smile and spoke.

'Right then, 3rd Squad, and you sir, follow me. You've got the pick of the beds. We haven't even got a 3rd Platoon anymore, after this afternoon, so we've got plenty of room.'

Polonn led 3rd Squad down to the far end of the room and set his las-rifle down on the table that he'd got up from earlier and started directing people to beds and lockers. There were four lockers per set of bunk beds, two for the Highrodan troops and two for the Haldon troops. Narveth chose the bed below Polonn, and Elatran was assigned the bed next to him, with Corporal Delane above him. Elatran quickly stowed his kit bags, pulled down his rebreather, pulled out his water bottle and sat on his bed, drinking slowly and checking over his las-rifle; that amount of dust was bound to mess with the firing mechanism. Once Polonn had finished assigning beds, he sat on Narveth's bed.

'Regardless of whether we like this, or approve of it, we might as well crack on,' he said. 'Have you got your map?'

Narveth nodded and pulled the flimsy paper map out.

'Great,' Polonn said. 'I'd advise you translate it onto your data-slate, that map will rip like something not right.' Polonn looked up at Elatran and Delane, who were both trying to discreetly listen in.

'You two might as well listen in too, it will probably be helpful for everyone, but there isn't the room for everyone to gather 'round. Right, so this bit you will have gone through, this is the line section HQ. Commissariat, Tac Logis, Munitorum, all stationed there. The sector HQ isn't on the map, but if you follow the crossroads East, you'll come upon a rail track. Take that past two line section HQs until you get to 29 Section HQ, then take the rail South, it'll take you to Sector HQ, which just so happens to be Theatre HQ too, you'll find the Lord General there, along with everything else. We share these billets with the Haldon 7th, you'll meet some of them, their decent enough. We've got armour sheds about a 500 metres behind us, where the 23rd Distre are stationed. To the East of us are some Oppurs, the 4th and 9th I think. To the West is-'

Polonn was cut off by shouts from the next room, and a head poked around the door.

'Orders from the fire-trench, Haldon and Distre in full retreat. Colonel says to get ready. We're to allow them to retreat to their sheds and the medicae dugouts and stand and repel in the fire trench. D Company is to act as reserves, split into squads for rapid deployment. Deployment in 1 minute.'

The head disappeared, and Polonn got to his feet.

Major Apperton shouted down the room, 'Polonn, get your squad in order. Comm Trench 6, support B Company 3rd Platoon. Don't get involved unless they ask.'

Polonn nodded to confirm. He turned and started checking over 3rd Squad, making sure helmets, body armour and rebreathers were in place, and that las-rifles were loaded.

'Alright,' he said, 'you, Elatran, you're on point. I'm after. Sir, if you want to go behind me so Radmerrt sees you shadowing. After that, I don't care, but Corporal, you go halfway between me and the last man. Right, let's go!'

The squad got into order, then started marching out of the room, out of the dugout, and into the trench, and their first experience of war. Las bolts flew over their heads, impacting on the tops of the trench. Artillery behind them boomed with enough noise to shake the troops' bones. Enemy artillery hit the ground with enough force to knock troops against the trench wall. After 2 minutes of marching down the support trench, they reached the secondary fire trench. C Company split off to reinforce the line at one point, with one platoon filling one of the communication trenches behind them. Polonn led them to the other side of the secondary trench and into a communications trench with a flakboard sign embedded in the entrance, with a '6' painted on it. Polonn pushed Elatran ahead of him, then put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

'Don't worry, B Company is good, they won't need us. And you won't be point next time. Once this is over, we'll get a rota set up so everyone gets put here. You were just nearby this time.'

Elatran started to feel better, then worse when he realised he was first in line from bad luck and proximity alone.

Suddenly, a wave of red light swept over their heads as las-fire opened up, and shadows and silhouettes appeared on the lip of the fire-trench, dropping down. Some started running past Elatran, bloodied and dusty, fear clear on their faces despite the rebreathers. Some fell into the trench and screamed for help, missing limbs. Others fell into the trench or over onto the other side and didn't move. They wouldn't move again.

Elatran saw 3rd Platoon of B Company stand on the fire step as one and started shooting, their white las-fire criss-crossing the sky with the enemy's red las-fire. An autocannon opened up, the deep booming of fire distinctive against the chatter of las-fire. The thuds of hotshot long-las sniper rounds could be heard from smaller entrenchments between the communications and support trenches. The artillery from both sides continued pounding the ground. Elatran had never heard such noise.

The fire-trench in front of Elatran came under heavy fire, and several people dropped into the trench, firing along the length of it. Elatran heard Polonn mutter 'Oh shit,' then a panicked voice came over the vox.

'Reserves, this is Captain Letrann, we need support, we need-.'

The vox cut off in static.

Polonn said, 'Right, Elatran, I know you're probably scared, but we're going to be alright. Fix your bayonet, then when I give the order, move forward. Keep your rifle up, cover the lip above you and any corners as you move.'

Elatran fixed his combat knife to the end of his las-rifle, and Polonn spread the order to fix bayonets down the squad, then tapped Elatran on the shoulder. Elatran advanced.


	3. Chapter 3

Las-fire continued to light up the sky, throwing odd shadows into the trench. Elatran reached the end of the trench and peered around the corner, poking the end of his las-rifle around too. He saw half a dozen enemy soldiers at the far end of this stretch of the trench, clustered about the corner that led to the trench held by B Company's 2nd Platoon. Elatran held up a splayed hand, then one finger to indicate six targets, and dropped his hand. Polonn tapped his back to confirm, the voxed over the microbead.

'Good spot. You call the attack, me and the lieutenant will be right behind you. We can take them.'

Elatran looked back at him, scared. Polonn nodded, and voxed, 'It'll be alright, we're right behind you. You can do this, it's what you've trained for.'

Elatran nodded, and turned back to check the troopers were still there. All 6 were still clustered before the corner, and were apparently waiting for reinforcement, looking at the lip. Two more enemy soldiers dropped over the lip and one of the troops at the corner started directing them into positions. Elatran relayed the information, then put up his hand, and counted down from 5 with his fingers. He closed his fist at the end of 5, and charged forward, firing down the trench at the troopers and advancing to the entrance of a observation post. He turned to check it was clear, and saw an enemy soldier there, as surprised as Elatran by this confrontation.

His uniform was a mix of red, purple, green and blue, with heretical symbols and talismans hanging from his neck and embroidered on pockets and his arms. Everything was covered in a layer of dust.

The eight-pointed star of chaos undivided was daubed in blood on his chest. It was an image that Elatran would never forget. It was burned into his memory from the briefing, but this was burned in a different way. He felt sick seeing the image, and his vision swam. It was wrong, it was not of this universe, it was corruption, and bloodlust, and magic, and excess, and it hurt to look at.

In anger and fear, he slashed with his bayonet, and stabbed repeatedly. The enemy soldier fell to the floor of the small trench, his jacket and chest cut open. Not every stab of Elatran's bayonet pierced the soldier, but enough did for him to quickly stop moving, and for the blood to pool around Elatran's feet.

Elatran turned back to the main fire trench to see Polonn and Narveth move up to support him, both firing their las-rifles. Elatran stepped back into the trench and started to fire off shots down the length. A few red las bolts flew back at them, but the enemy were so packed in and ordered for the assault forward that they couldn't turn to deal with the assault from behind. Elatran, Polonn and Narveth advanced through the trench, peppering the enemy troops with las-fire. The closest four died instantly, soaking up dozens of las-shots. The next two troops turned, firing off shots at the trio. The two closest to the corner were confused by the fire and charged around the corner, believing they had been seen and needed to attack. The corner was filled with las-fire, and one of the enemy troops was thrown back against the wall with the force of the las-fire that hit him.

Elatran killed another enemy soldier, pumping las bolt after las bolt into his chest. Polonn and Narveth shot the other trooper at the same time, the two bolts almost tearing the man's arm off. Polonn deployed the other troops of 3rd Squad along the fire-step, directing two soldiers, Alpharn and Julo, to start firing the autocannon. The las fire hitting the wall from around the corner ceased, and Narveth quickly voxed over.

'B Company 2nd Platoon, this is Lieutenant Narveth, D Company, 2nd Platoon, 3rd Squad. Enemy no longer in the trench. Day code is Guilliman, I repeat, day code is Guilliman.'

'Narveth, this is Lieutenant Arrak, clearance confirmed, thanks for having our back there. Any survivors of 3rd Platoon?'

'No survivors. Our squad has this trench though, and we intend to hold it,' voxed in Polonn. Elatran looked around and realised it was true. In the rush of battle, he hadn't noticed the extent of the death in the trench. Every member of 3rd Platoon was dead, either outright from las-fire, with smouldering holes in heads and chests, or finished off by the invaders, with wounds to the arms, legs and guts accompanied by las-shots to the head or chest, or throats slit with knives. Mixed in with the members of 3rd Platoon were the enemy dead, still smouldering or bleeding from the las-fire and bayonets that killed them. Those of the enemy that were wounded were being finished off by Polonn and another trooper called Preton.

Elatran was grabbed by the scruff of his collar and pushed towards the fire step. He looked around and saw Narveth stepping up on the flakboard and resting his rifle on the parapet. Narveth looked down at him.

'Come on Elatran, get up here, prepare to repel invaders. You've done well so far, but we have to deny them,' he urged.

Elatran joined Narveth on the flakboard, rested his las-rifle on the parapet too and looked down the sights. He saw what every other trooper saw.

A long line of enemy troops, stretching across the horizon, with armour dotted throughout. They marched forward, ignoring the countless number of soldiers that died beside them. They chanted in an ancient, evil tongue, a chant that turned Elatran's stomach. He could see the look of fear and disgust on Narveth's face.

Polonn's voice cut through the noise and the fear. 'Squad, rise and address.' There was a clatter as some squad members stepped up on the firing step.

'Enemy front! Fire at will!'

The trench filled with noise and light as they opened fire, las-bolts hurling at the line of troops. The chatter from the autocannon stopped as Alpharn and Julo changed the ammunition hopper, but quickly started up again. 3rd Squad let out blistering fire for ten minutes. It was only then, with long, sustained fire from the entire trench line, did the enemy line break and run, merely twenty metres from the trench. They left burning hulks of armour, wounded soldiers that Imperium troops picked off and their dead. Artillery chased them back to their trench, churning the no man's land even more so that it was unrecognisable from the wasteland that existed before the assault. The order was given.

'Stand down, stand down.'

Elatran stepped down from the raised flakboard, took out his water bottle and, after fiddling with the unwieldly straw, took a long drink and breathed deeply. Narveth sat heavily next to him and leaned his head against the wall of the trench. Elatran looked at him and tapped him.

'Sir, you've been shot.'

Narveth looked at his arm, specifically the las-burn creased across it. Polonn walked over, breathing heavily, looked at Narveth's wound, and took out his aid kit. He opened a sealed bandage and wrapped it around the burn. 'You'll be fine,' he said, 'Just visit the medicae when we come off the line.'

Elatran looked down the trench at the rest of the squad. There were a few more corpses laid with the members of 3rd Platoon and the enemy dead, and two troopers, Maren and Polto, were sat against the trench wall, each with a serious wound a trooper was dealing with. Maren was unconscious and missing his arm, and Polto was holding in his intestines and screaming in agony as Sarant tried to wrap a bandage around him and call for a medicae and stretcher team. Elatran counted how many of 3rd Squad was either still on the step or sat down. Out of twenty troops, 3rd Squad had lost four dead and two had serious wounds. Bad, but not as bad as the platoon whose trench they had just defended.

Polonn turned his head and listened, then spoke.

'Right, well done troops. We're to hold this position until C Company, 3rd Platoon arrives, then we're to return to the billets for debrief. Major Apperton and Major Iridon both sound happy with how we've conducted ourselves, and apparently Radmerrt hates you all less. Every other man, get on the step and watch for another enemy attack. Everyone else, sit down and have some water.'

Elatran pushed a new power cell into his las-rifle and climbed back onto the step, watching the horizon. Ten minutes later, Polonn called for those on the step to be replaced with those sat, but with Narveth wounded, Elatran chose to remain on the step. Soon after, the relief force from C Company arrived, and 3rd Squad moved away from the step and shuffled down the communications trench they'd arrived through, back to the billets. They were bloodied, they were bruised, they were exhausted, but they'd had their first taste of combat, and they had, more the most part, survived.

3rd Squad filed into the billets, passing into the second room and dropping rifles and rebreathers on their beds. Many took out water bottles and rations and began to eat and drink, as much out of base animal need for comfort after the brutality of combat than actual hunger and thirst. Elatran and a few others started checking over their kit. Major Apperton walked in and stood in the middle of the room.

'Bloody well done. We had a majority of new, untested troops, and you didn't break, you didn't falter, you went out and killed the enemy. Bloody well done. You've 5 hours before D Company goes out and relieves B Company, so eat, drink, sleep, unpack, whatever. Get some needed R and R before you get sent on the line. Bloody well done.'

He walked out again. Narveth stood up, pulled out his map and walked over to Polonn. They talked briefly, then Narveth walked out, fixing his rebreather back into place. Polonn strolled over to Elatran, and sat heavily on Narveth's bed.

'He's gone to the medicae, to get his arm seen to. He might be a little while, all the medicae will be doing triage from the combat. You did well out there, some real good fighting. You're probably going to last. How do you feel?'

'Tired, and scared, and jumpy,' Elatran replied. 'Is it always like this?'

'Sometimes. The enemy sneak in, or they launch an offensive, or we launch an offensive, and it turns to sustained fire and close quarters stuff like that. Other times, you'll be stood on the fire-step taking pot-shots at dark shapes too far to make out properly, or sat on the duckboards or in a dugout, waiting for your turn on watch.'

'Oh. I see.' Elatran finished checking his kit, and realised the only power cell he had was the one in his las.

'Where's the ammo dump? I'm pretty much out,' he said.

Polonn gestured. 'Come with me, I'll show you. I'm low too, and I imagine most of the squad is too. We'll grab a few boxes of power cells, resupply everyone.'

Polonn got to his feet, put his rebreather back on, stored his bayonet in its sheath and slung his rifle over one shoulder. Elatran did the same, and they walked out of the dugout, heading south then east along the support trench, until they reached the Munitorum ammunition depot for the section. Elatran and Polonn grabbed two boxes each, and stuffed their pockets with power cells, then walked back to the dugout, Polonn occasionally commenting on which trenches led where.

They reached the dugout and set the power cells on the table at the back of the room. The few troopers still conscious and not shell shocked got up and replenished their supplies. Elatran grabbed a dozen cells, then sat on his bed. He drank, and absently chewed a ration bar. Without changing, he laid down and fell asleep, the view of Narveth returning with a cleaner bandage and Polonn making a few cups of recaf the last thing Elatran saw before exhaustion took him.


	4. Chapter 4

Elatran was shaken awake a few hours later by Corporal Delane. He sat up, bleary-eyed.

'You've an hour until we get deployed to take over from B Company. I though you might want to eat, drink, shower. Whatever,' said Delane.

Elatran grabbed some clean clothes and walked through the billets, to the small ablutions block on the other side of the dugout. He showered, noticing the bruises forming a patchwork over his body, the largest spreading from his right shoulder, down his arm and across his chest. He cleaned the dust from his hair, then dried himself off with the same towel he had carried from basic training, and dressed in his clean fatigues. He walked back to his bed, depositing his bloodied, dusty uniform with a servitor. This trench war had been going on for long enough that the troops, or at least their uniforms, were well looked after.

He sat on his bed again, chewing a dried ration bar and cleaning his las-rifle. He finished both, and walked to the sink in the corner of the room and filled his water bottle, tucking the now heavy plastek bottle into the pouch on his waist. As he shuffled back over to his bed, Major Apperton sauntered into the room and called out.

'Fifteen minutes, D Company, fifteen minutes! Captain Youart, get your platoon in order.'

'Aye sir,' Youart replied. She turned to the rest of the room. 'Right, Second Platoon, get kitted up, I want you ready for rotation in ten minutes. Squad sergeants, I know you've a lot of new kids, but I want everything squared away and in order, clear?'

The three sergeants made various grunts in reply. Polonn looked up at Elatran as he sat down.

'Get in your armour quick, and make sure you're battle ready. It's been quiet since the counter-attack, but that doesn't mean they won't try something. It might take us a while to recover from something like that, but these…' Polonn struggled to find the words.

'Heretics? Murderers? Insane bastards? Take your pick sergeant,' said a familiarly deep, encouraging voice from the end of the bunks.

Junior Commissar Asphadon stepped around into view, scarlet body armour visible under his black Commissariat storm coat, chainsword at his waist, bolt pistol in a leg holster, cap under one arm. He saw Elatran struggling to get into his armour, flashed a half-smile, then spoke.

'Sergeant Polonn's right. You can never expect anything from them, other than to ruin the expectations of men that assume otherwise. Tacticae does its best, but there is only so much they can do,' he said, pulling his rebreather out of a pouch hidden under his coat.

'Seen much action against this lot then?' asked Polonn, rising from his bunk to check on the rest of 3rd Squad.

Asphadon looked uncomfortable. 'Not exactly,' he said, turning to let Polonn out of the enclave created by the bunks. Polonn hummed and walked off. Asphadon sat down on Narveth's bed, then quickly shuffled along as Narveth walked over and sat down too.

'You joining us then, Asphadon?' he asked, resting his lasrifle against the bed and pulling out his laspistol, checking the charge.

'Yeah. I saw some vicious action with A Company earlier, so Volatre told me to get some rest, said I'd need it for what comes next,' Asphadon replied.

'What comes next?' Elatran asked, then quickly looked down, red in the face, having realised what he'd done. He'd been warned in basic training never to interrupt a conversation between an officer and a commissar, as it would likely result in a mass reactive round meeting his head, just in case it was sensitive information. This time was clearly an exception, as Asphadon answered him.

'The waiting. The rotation. Dealing with the fear and boredom and whatever other emotions troops feel while spending eight hours in a fire trench. Keeping discipline. Helping coordinate first response in case anything happens. Apparently its most of a day spent putting out fires caused by soldiers' nerves, because they're so close to the line without anything happening.'

Elatran looked up, and saw Asphadon's expression. It was one of mild annoyance, and defiance. Narveth had holstered his laspistol and was reading the report sent to his and Polonn's data-slate about the events on the line from the past four hours. Polonn wondered back over, nodded at Elatran, acknowledging that he was now dressed and combat ready. He beckoned over Narveth, and they had a brief, whispered discussion in the centre of the room. Asphadon got up and joined then, the discussion indecipherable under the noise of the company getting ready for time on the line. Corporal Delane dropped down from the bunk above and sat next to Elatran.

'Were you PDF before you joined the Guard?', Delane asked. Elatran shook his head.

'I was, spent a year patrolling the seventy-third moon. Y'know, the one that can't be settled. Tiny thing, but it can be used as a staging ground, so it had to be patrolled. Either way, nothing ever happened. I bet it'll be like that. Have to entertain ourselves more than fight the enemy. Apparently the advance and counterattack earlier was the most action anyone had seen for two weeks.'

'How do you know that, Corp?' asked Elatran.

'I was speaking with some of the Haldon 7th in the medicae station,' replied Delane, then noticed Elatran's concerned look. 'It's nothing, small las-burn on my forearm, just needed it bandaged and to refill my med pouch.'

Delane looked like he was about to speak again, but was interrupted by Captain Youart walking back into the room, calling for 2nd Platoon to get in marching order. Elatran and Delane scrambled to their feet and joined the queue that had formed, falling in line behind the three officers of 3rd Squad. Major Apperton appeared at the head of the column and waved them forward. D Company trudged out of the dugout, rebreathers fixed over their faces, following C Company. Elatran followed Polonn, Narveth, Asphadon and Delane into the trench and through the system of support and communication trenches to relieve B Company.

They marched through the dust, and eventually arrived at a familiar trench. Polonn turned and listened to his microbead, then spoke to the rest of the squad.

'Listen up. Because of what we did earlier, and because there are only two platoons and it's a small stretch of trench, we'll be occupying the same trench as before. We'll filter down Comm Six, and deploy along the fire trench. We'll change over from B Company, then stand to for half an hour. After that, I'll set a rotor for time on the step and time in the dugouts. Alright, follow me.'

Polonn started off, leading 3rd Squad down Comm Trench 6 and into their position for the next eight hours. Elatran followed Delane down the trench, past the backs of B Company to his position for the changeover. A sergeant leading the trench listened to his microbead, then ordered his troops down off the firing step. Polonn tuned into 3rd Squad's vox system, and ordered them onto the firing step. Elatran stepped up onto the flakboard, and realised that Lieutenant Narveth was next to him once again. Narveth nodded, and rested his rifle on a sandbag, unable to hold it without help for long periods of time. Elatran did the same, using his free hand to adjust his sights. He heard B Company shuffle out of the trench, and then heard nothing but the distant firing and impacts of artillery duels and the whistling of the wind.

They stood there, stock still, a thinly spread line of las-rifles, paint already dulled by the constant impact of the dust. After what felt like an age, Elatran heard Polonn walking down the line, relieving troopers. Polonn tapped Elatran on the shoulder to grab his attention, then motioned that he should step down and head into the dugout. Elatran stepped down, and Polonn took his place, resting his rifle on the parapet and using his microbead. Elatran could see his jaw moving under his rebreather, and Narveth's jaw moving in response. He walked away and ducked into the nearest dugout. It was a far cry from the neatly excavated and clean troops' quarters, resembling more a shell hole than a purpose-built dugout. However, it had a dust-curtain, some seats, a tap in the wall and a small station for heating food. How they managed to fit all that plus occupants in there, Elatran would never know, but it worked. There was already an occupant in there as Elatran ducked under the dust-curtain.

Asphadon looked up, his rebreather slung around his neck in the same manner as some of the veterans. A data-slate was gripped in his hands, his bolt pistol laid on the seat next to him. Elatran pulled his rebreather down and let it hang too, and took a seat on a threadbare canvas seat, setting his las-rifle against the wall. Asphadon nodded an acknowledgment at Elatran, then went back to his data-slate. Sensing that conversation wasn't likely, Elatran pulled his copy of the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer and began searching for the symbol that he'd seen on the soldier he'd killed earlier. He soon discovered that the reason why the briefing on _Perniciosa Inordinatio _was so short was that the Imperium didn't know much about the enemy they were facing on Panteric. Elatran found a cleaner, less painful version of the symbol printed on a small pamphlet that he had tucked into the Chaos section of his Primer. The pamphlet told that it was the symbol of Chaos Undivided, a sect of Chaos worshippers that believed in worshipping all four major tenets of Chaos. It listed the major force of Chaos Undivided worshippers, the armies of Abbadon the Despoiler, as well as other, smaller forces that still covered entire sectors in vice-like grips. Elatran didn't recognise any of the names other than Abbadon's forces. The pamphlet finished with recommending that the Primer should be studied for more in-depth knowledge of the four major aspects of Chaos, but to see regimental officers for Ordo Hereticus sanctioned information not contained in the Primer.

Elatran started to flick through the pages in the Primer dealing with Chaos when Sergeant Polonn walked in, shaking the dust from his armour and removing his rebreather.

'Alright Elatran? Good work earlier, you did well. Check your kit over though, I'll be rotating you out in about ten minutes,' Polonn said. Elatran checked his chronometer and realised that he'd been reading the Primer and the pamphlet for nearly an hour.

'Aye sarge,' Elatran replied, and began checking his las-rifle for dust.

Polonn sat down too and took a long swig from his plastek water bottle. Asphadon sighed and slotted his data-slate into a pouch, then grabbed a ration bar, broke a piece off and stowed the rest away before beginning to chew on the piece he'd snapped off. Polonn turned to him.

'Anything of use on there? Narveth can't use his data-slate out there, and I'm only a lowly sergeant, but it would be useful to know if there's anything new I might need to know,' he asked.

Asphadon sighed again and replied. 'I wish there was any significant new tactical data, or strategy or anything, but there's nothing. No major pushes anywhere, no real new information, nothing. I never figured that a live combat zone would have less data and intel flow than a reserves posting.'

'Is that where you were before this then? Reserves?' Polonn asked, picking up his las-rifle and pulling out a cleaning kit. He started using a brush to remove dust from the moving parts of the rifle.

'Yes, mostly. I was deployed to the Abretyn 42nd as a cadet-commissar while they were in a combat zone, but by the time I reached them, the battle on that planet had finished and the regiment was being rotated to reserves. I only had a few months left before I was made a full commissar, so I was kept there to be taught by one of the regiment's commissars. Since they were going to be there for a while, once I got my full commissar, I was reassigned to this regiment, specifically as part of this company, to get some combat experience. I only ended up with A Company yesterday because I was following Volatre and he told me to stay put while we were with them.'

'Fair enough. Reserves isn't a bad posting. Must make dealing with the... particular conditions found in a stagnant trench war like this easier,' Polonn said, then looked at Elatran and spoke. 'I'd say that's about ten minutes, Elatran. Go through the other dug-outs and warn anyone on second shift that I'll be through soon to get them up.'

Elatran nodded and got to his feet, fixing his rebreather back over his face, slinging his las-rifle over his shoulder and walked back out into the trench.


End file.
